News in brief

MoD massaged savings figures, MPs allege The Ministry of Defence is accused by MPs today of massaging figures to claim it is saving hundreds of millions of pounds on the cost of major new weapons systems. The MoD says it has saved nearly £800m on 20 big projects, including the Eurofighter/Typhoon aircraft. Their total cost of £27bn is already about £2.6bn above estimate. In a report published today, the Commons public accounts committee says £448m of the cuts were not the result of savings but were simply "transferred to other budgets". A further £242m was cut merely by reducing the number of weapons involved.
Richard Norton-Taylor

Irish president and Ulster first minister shake hands Mary McAleese yesterday became the first Irish president to shake hands with Ian Paisley, the Democratic Unionist leader. The two met at the Somme Heritage Centre, dedicated to remembering all Irishmen who died in the first world war, and the president went on to meet loyalist community groups in nearby Newtownards, Co Down. It was the first time Mr Paisley, as first minister of Northern Ireland, had shared a platform with the republic's president. The meeting marked another milestone in the rapprochement between Ulster unionism, led by Mr Paisley, and the Irish Republic. Henry McDonald

Watchdog censures BBC for Olympic logo flashes The BBC was yesterday censured for showing footage of the 2012 Olympic logo which could have triggered epileptic seizures. Responding to complaints, including one from the British Epilepsy Association, Ofcom said: "A brief diving sequence of 45 frames [around two seconds] contained an excessive number of 'flashes' that were clearly in breach of the guidelines." Meanwhile, Sir Trevor McDonald was cleared after calling late comic Bernard Manning a "fat, white bastard" on a satirical quiz show. The media regulator said the comments were "clearly intended to parody Manning's own comedy". Owen Gibson